Forum Spotlight: 2018 MacBook Air Released, Intel Continues 10nm

Welcome to the NotebookReview Forum Spotlight, a biweekly series where we highlight the hottest and most important topics in our forum. The NotebookReview forum is the largest Internet forum dedicated to the discussion of notebook computers, including Macs and tablets. You can sign up for free by clicking here.

LG Notebooks Now Sold in the UK

Consumers in the United States have been able to enjoy LG’s ultralight Gram notebooks for several years now. They’re just coming into style in the U.K., however, where LG has launched three Gram models: The LG Gram 13, Gram 14, and Gram 15.

LG says its Gram 13 is capable of up to 22.5 hours of battery life. It’s scary light at just 2.1 pounds. Even the larger Gram 15 doesn’t weigh that much more at just 2.4 pounds. The processor choices consist of Intel’s 8th generation Core i5 and Core i7 chips. Models start with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage, topping out with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage in the higher-end configurations.

Intel Still Working on 10nm Process

Intel rebuffed a report earlier this month stating the company had given up on producing 10 nanometer processors. The news came shortly after Intel released its 9th generation Core processors for desktops, which are based on a 14nm++ process that Intel developed several years ago. (See our blurb on the Intel 9th generation CPUs.)

Mobile Nvidia RTX Cards Possibly Spotted

A leaked report that has since been removed stated that Nvidia will be launching its notebook-bound GeForce RTX 20 series cards in January at CES 2019. That would be the most predictable time and event to launch the new GPUs for maximum exposure. Hopefully by that point we’ll have been able to test out the hallmark features of the RTX 20 series: Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and ray tracing. No games supporting the new technologies have surfaced since the RTX 20 series release in September 2018, but many have been promised.

New 2018 MacBook Air Released

The MacBook Air 2017 model had been so anemic compared to the rest of Apple’s lineup that I thought it was going to be dropped altogether. But Apple has finally released a 2018 model that is totally redesigned.

The MacBook Air sits between the base MacBook and the MacBook Pro. It starts at $1,199 and will be available starting on November 7, 2018. A concise list of features on the new model include:

Redesigned keyboard with butterfly switches

More colorful, higher-resolution 13.3-inch display

20 percent larger trackpad

8th generation Intel Core i5 dual-core processor

Up to 16GB of memory and 1.5TB of storage

Up to 12 hours of battery life

Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports (USB Type-C)

Weight: 2.75 pounds

0.61 inches thin

Touch ID (fingerprint reader)

The 2018 MacBook Air is more expensive than the outgoing model, but it’s not like we didn’t see that coming. Either way, this is the refresh it needed.